Dodgers' latest spending binge lands Korean lefty

The Dodgers' top bid of approximately $25.7 million won them the right to negotiate with Korean left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin for 30 days.

They got every bit of their money's worth, taking negotiations down to Sunday's 2 p.m deadline before reaching agreement on a contract with Ryu. The deal with Ryu (who will turn 26 in March) is reportedly for six years and $36 million with bonuses for innings pitched that can add as much as $1 million each year. The contract also includes an opt-out clause after five years if Ryu pitches 750 innings for the Dodgers to that point.

Dodgers GM Ned Colletti had set as his goal this off-season the addition of two starters to a rotation with some health issues – ace Clayton Kershaw was bothered by hip problems last season, Chad Billingsley is recovering from a partially-torn elbow ligament (and has thus far avoided surgery) and Ted Lilly is recovering from shoulder surgery.

He met that goal with a weekend binge rivaling the nine-player trade in August that brought four players (Adrian Gonzalez, Nick Punto, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford) and $260 million in salary commitments. This time, the Dodgers have committed at least another $208 million to add two starting pitchers – a reported $147 million in a deal with free agent right-hander Zack Greinke reached Saturday and at least $61.7 million for Ryu (including his contract and the posting fee now to be paid to his Korean team, the Hanwha Eagles).

The burly Ryu (he is listed at 6-foot-2, 230 pounds) was an All-Star in each of his seven seasons with the Eagles in the Korean Baseball Organization and the first player in that league to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in the same season (he did it at age 19).

Ryu led the KBO in strikeouts five times and went 98-52 with a 2.80 ERA and 1,238 strikeouts in 1,269 innings over his seven seasons there. Ryu pitched for Korea in the 2008 Olympics (including the gold medal game) and the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Last season, he was only 9-9 with a 2.66 ERA for the last-place Eagles.

The Dodgers now have eight starting pitchers under contract for 2013 – Kershaw, Greinke, Billingsley, Beckett, Ryu, Lilly, Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang. The depth is needed to guard against the health issues of Kershaw, Billingsley and Lilly. But the surplus could also be used to trade for depth needed at other positions -- the outfield where Matt Kemp and Crawford are recovering from surgeries or third base where journeyman Luis Cruz is currently penciled in as the starter.